Various systems provide real-time location updates for users of mobile devices. Typically, collecting data using GPS devices is considered the most accurate approach. However, GPS devices may consume a relatively large amount of power and may have a significant negative impact on the battery life of a mobile device. Thus, in order to preserve power, these systems must switch between various modes depending on the scenario. For example, the need for the accuracy of the GPS is greatest for high impact scenarios (such as driving or walking around town), and much less so in lower impact situations (such as working in front of a computer). These systems should be able to efficiently switch from GPS to other modes with lower power consumption, for example determining location based on network location data such as IP address.
Presently, mobile devices may exhibit a significant delay in moving between GPS and lower power consumption modes. For example, the accuracy of network location data is relatively low as compared to GPS, and accordingly, it may take considerable movement of the mobile device before the device (or application) recognizes the activity (the mobile device is in motion) and switches to GPS mode to capture the activity. This may result in missing or misidentifying stops that the user has made. In addition, the quality of the location data used (other than GPS) may be too low to determine an exact initial location of the activity.